Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi has ordered concern officers to form a committee to review and monitor the ongoing situation concerning the Kotia Gram Panchayat in the Koraput district, located along the border with Andhra Pradesh.
The committee would study the prevailing ground situation in the disputed Kotia gram panchayat area and report to the government, official sources said.
The decision to form a panel was taken during a review meeting presided over by the Chief Minister last evening.
The CM has issued the direction after the meeting on the situation in the Kotia cluster of villages over which Andhra Pradesh also makes its claim, they said.
The Committee will be chaired by Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari and it will submit a report to the CM after reviewing the current situation there.
The review meeting was also attended by Shri Pujari, Works and Law Minister Prithviraj Harichandan, Chief Secretary Manoj Ahuja, ACS Home Satyabrata Sahu and several other officials.
The dispute over the ownership of 21 of the 28 villages under Kotia panchayat had first reached the Supreme Court in 1968. In 2006, the apex court held that inter-state boundaries did not fall within its jurisdiction and only the Parliament could resolve them, as it imposed a permanent injunction on the disputed area.
The dispute over Kotia group of villages has become a burning and political issue in the state as AP government is trying its best to grab the villages.